KR102547135B1 - A digital messaging method that relates a message to a material subject - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention proposes a message transmission system and method that allows a sender (specified by an identifier) to transmit digital content to one or more recipients (specified by one or more identifiers). Thus, in order to transmit a message, a sender implements at least one single authenticator of a substance subject, a distinguishable and essential feature by which each substance subject can be identified, the feature serving to anchor the content. do. To be able to access the content of the message, the recipient provides the server with the recipient's identifier for any current messaging system, as well as the single authenticator of the same material subject as was used at the time the sender created the message. A single authenticator of a material subject may be one or more image(s) of an authentication area of the material subject, or any metrics obtained from the image(s) that characterize in part the microstructure of the material subject. .

Description

A digital messaging method that relates a message to a material subject

Whatever the content transmitted (encrypted or unencrypted) or held sender(s)/receiver(s) scheme (anonymous, 1:1 or 1:N, or even N:1), and It belongs to the art field of digital messaging, for messages with limited or no time availability (transient or persistable). Digital messaging means a technological system (computer, application program, network, etc.) for conveying messages and their digital content from a sender to a recipient.

Current digital messaging systems allow a sender to send digital content to one or more recipients. This content is delivered digitally from the sender to the recipient(s) while maintaining its digital form. Content can sometimes have a limited lifetime, for example related to an integrated or external erasing system. The content may be encrypted, which usually requires a prior exchange of encryption keys between the sender and receiver. Content, even if encrypted, is transmitted from sender to recipient without special conditions, from the moment the content moves from one server to another and reaches its storage or storage destination, the recipient can access the content. there is. All current systems define a sender or receiver based on a unique identifier. Thus, content originating from the sender is recovered only by the recipient or at least the owner of the destination identifier. To improve the delivery conditions of a message, for example on the condition of being in a particular geographic location (usually determined by GPS, Wi-Fi, radio or acoustic triangulation or others) or in the vicinity of another user belonging to a group of users. Given that there are—such applications are termed “location-based messaging”—initiatives have been taken in the field.

Thus, the proposed system does not allow sharing of digital content between a sender and a receiver that is strictly regulated by the implementation of one or more material subjects. Existing methods do not allow attaching digital content to a material subject. Accordingly, the present invention solves this problem by proposing to coordinate delivery of messages, provided that the recipient is at one point in time or at another point in time with respect to the material subject or an image of the material subject. aim to do In this way, it is possible to simply improve the confidentiality of messages without necessarily using encryption. Moreover, it is known in psychology that humans always use special relationships with material objects to remember certain moments, to manifest or consciousize certain events, or to share emotions. The word "souvenir", which characterizes objects brought on a trip, received from close friends, or connected to something to be commemorated, is a testament to this bond between individual or collective memories and the material subjects that surround us. This is a secure messaging method that, depending on selected material subjects, provides an additional dimension of evocation.

Accordingly, the present invention provides for at least one two-factor authentication - i.e. authentication of the recipient on the one hand, and authentication of the substance subject that served as the key to deliver the message and was used to prepare the message on the other hand - on the one hand. It aims to transmit content from one or more sender(s) to one or more recipient(s) by coordinating the delivery of the content from the sender(s). This is a method of digital messaging related to these material subjects.

An object of the present invention, in other words, is to place a digital "Post-it ^TM " on any type of material (physical) object to provide a very exciting experience to the recipient(s) or to the sender(s) as well. This virtualization of attached content also has the advantage of avoiding real or virtual visual contamination, as it can be set up and intersects between two worlds.

To achieve the above object, the present invention relates to an electronic message transmission method comprising the following steps:

- initially, by the sender, selecting at least one material test object having at least one authentication area displaying a micro structure at a given observation magnification, and then at least one first one of the authentication areas. to acquire or implement an image

- recording, by the sender, the electronic message to be sent on a server system;

- recording in the server system at least one identifier of at least one recipient of said message, each identifier being associated with a message to be transmitted;

- notifying each recipient of the existence of a message;

- obtaining at least one second image of an authentication area of the material subject - the second image is obtained such that the first image and the second image contain substantially equal levels of information related to the authentication area, and the characteristics are Substantially equivalent to the characteristics of the first image -,

- align the first image and the second image with respect to each other or with respect to the same criterion, and determine a first single authenticator of the substance subject from the first image, jointly or not with the alignment; and determining a second single authenticator of the material subject from the second image;

- comparing single authenticators;

- sending to the server system the identifier of the at least one recipient associated with the second single authenticator;

- if the first and second single authenticators are similar and the recipient identifier recorded in the server system and the transmitted recipient identifier match, send to the recipient a message related to its (message) identifier and related to the single authenticator; to do.

Thus, the present invention has the advantage of guaranteeing that the recipient(s) possesses or exists the material subject prior to delivery of the message, thus simplifying and securing the exchange. .

In the present invention, the concept of message transmission means equivalently transmission in "push" mode or recovery in "pull" mode. Similarly, in the present invention, the phrase “determine a unitary authenticator” is synonymous with the phrase “extract a unitary authenticator”.

However, it should be noted that each authenticator may consist of a corresponding image, although this is not necessarily the case.

By "message" is meant a digital set, which contains not only information about the sender and recipient, but also meta data of other characteristics (time stamp, geographical location, ...).

In the present invention, a "server system" should be understood as a computer system that includes one or more servers, which are not necessarily located at the same location, and is adapted to implement the present invention. Accordingly, the machine performing the transmission of messages within the framework of this server system need not necessarily perform authentication operations nor operate to store data. It should be understood that a server system may include a single machine that performs all of the operations assigned within the framework of the present invention. In the case of a distributed-architecture server system, implemented servers are generally referred to as “nodes”.

The invention also relates to a method for sending an electronic message comprising the following steps:

- recording electronic messages to be transmitted on server systems;

- realizing at least two material objects, each having at least one authentication area indicative of a microstructure at a given magnification of observation;

- to implement sorting criteria;

- acquiring at least one first image of an authentication area of each material subject, aligning each first image to an alignment criterion, and aligning or not aligning, each material from each first image determining a first single authenticator of the subject;

- recording in the server system a first authenticator of each substance subject, the authenticator comprising an image of an authentication realm and/or an authenticator derived from the image;

- obtaining at least one second image of an authentication region of the at least one candidate substance test subject - the second image is obtained such that the first and second images contain substantially equal levels of information related to the authentication region; , the characteristics are substantially equivalent to the characteristics of the first image -,

- aligning the second image to an alignment criterion, and determining a candidate single authenticator of the candidate substance subject from the second image, with or without alignment;

- sending to the server the recipient identifier associated with the candidate authenticator;

- comparing the candidate single authenticator with the first single authenticators recorded in the server system and, if the candidate single authenticator and the first single authenticator are similar, sending a message to a recipient whose identifier relates to the candidate single authenticator. .

In the present invention, the "sorting criterion" is, for example, an image of a reference subject in the same family, type or category as the implemented material subjects, a note in the vicinity of the authentication area. It should be understood that the reference image has any characteristic, such as (but not limited to) an image of points of interest, an image of a pattern or sign present in or near each authentication area.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a method of transmitting a message includes recording at least one identifier of a recipient associated with at least one single authenticator of a substance subject.

According to a feature of the present invention, in each authentication area image of the material subject, singular points and descriptors of a single area related to each singular point are determined. and determining a single authenticator of the substance subject from the image proceeds.

Also, according to the present invention, the different steps are not necessarily performed in the order listed.

Thus, for example and according to a variant, in the message writing phase, at least the following steps proceed:

- recording the content of the electronic message to be transmitted on the server system - the content is related to the message to be transmitted -,

- recording in the server system at least one identifier of at least one recipient of the message, each identifier being related to the message to be transmitted;

- recording in the server system at least one identifier of at least one sender of a message, each identifier being associated with a message to be transmitted;

- implementing at least one material test object with at least one authentication area indicative of a microstructure at a given viewing magnification;

- obtaining, by a device accessible to the sender, at least one first image of the authentication area;

- determining, from the first image, at least one first single authenticator of the substance subject;

- Recording the single authenticator of a material subject in the server system associated with the message to be transmitted.

In the message recovery phase by each recipient, at least the following steps proceed:

- obtaining, by means of a device accessible to the recipient, at least one second image of an authentication area of the material subject;

- in the second image, determining singular points and descriptors of a single region associated with each singular point - descriptors associated with each corresponding singular point -,

- extracting, from the second image, a second candidate single authenticator of the substance subject;

- implement alignment using singularities and their associated descriptors, and then compare first and second images and/or their respective single authenticators;

- on the one hand authenticating the recipient identifier and implementing a candidate single authenticator authentication phase of the substance subject involved in the message to be forwarded and stored in the server system;

- if there is sufficient similarity between the first image and the second image or between their respective single authenticators and the recipient identifier recorded in the server system and the candidate recipient's identifier match, the associated and originating substance to its identifier Transmitting a message related to a subject to a recipient.

Determining outliers and descriptors in the first image may occur within the write phase or within the recovery phase or outside of these phases.

In the present invention, the micro-texture of the authentication area is intrinsic and random in that it results from the nature of the authentication area itself of the material subject. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, each material test subject used belongs to a family of test subjects comprising at least one authenticating region having an essentially random, not easily reproducible, intrinsic structure, the reproduction of which is At the observational scale, the reproduction of the structure is difficult or nearly impossible in that it results from a process that is markedly unpredictable. This realm of authentication, which is essentially random and has a continuous media structure that is not easily reproducible, is described in Jorge Guajardo's paper, in particular, cryptography and security. Corresponds to "Physical Unclonable Functions (PUF)," defined in the English edition of the Encyclopedia, January 2011 edition, pp. 929 to 934. Preferably, the authentication of the substance test subject according to the present invention The region corresponds to an intrinsically physically non-replicable function, referred to in the above-mentioned article as an “intrinsic PUF.” The inventors believe that the random characteristics of the microstructure of the authentication region are the characteristics of the subject itself. It is unique or essential to the authentication field because, due to its mode of sophistication, development or increase, it is not necessary to add a specific structure to the authentication area, in particular printing or engraving.

However, if the microstructure of a material subject itself can be used to determine a single authenticator, marks marked by, for example, the interaction of imprinting, printing, embossing, or stamping random characters on a material subject can also be used. It can be (for example, it can be an ink-jet printed paper, even in the form of droplets deposited on the paper may suffice).

According to a feature of the present invention, in the message writing phase, at least one identifier of each recipient in the message to be transmitted is recorded in the server system, and in the retrieval phase, the identifier of the recipient is implemented jointly with the authenticator of the candidate substance test subject. , and then messages are sent to recipients only if those recipients have been positively authenticated by the server system or other device. In the present invention, the identifier allows the recipient or sender to be identified while providing a relatively high degree of certainty that the sender's identifier has not been stolen. Thus, the identifier may be, for example, a combination of biometric data or a user name and a password known only to the person holding the identifier.

A single authenticator may be the acquired image(s) themselves, images extracted or derived from them(s), or any set of digital data inferred from and characterizing the acquired image(s). . For example, it may be immutable local descriptors of local features computed from the acquired image(s) containing structural or micro-structural spatial information of the authentication area.

According to another feature of the invention, prior to the message recovery phase, information about the material subject whose image of the authentication area is to be used for recovery of the message is transmitted to each recipient. In the present invention, the information about the material subject may be information such as location information, positional information, or commands allowing a receiver to know what to do in the presence of the material subject.

According to a variant of this feature, the information about the material subject includes at least one piece of information for geographically locating the material subject.

According to another feature of the present invention, prior to the message recovery phase, the material subject is distributed to each recipient.

According to another feature of the invention, the recipient is notified, by the device or any other means, of the availability of the message. These devices can then receive messages indicating the availability of messages to be recovered, in a so-called “push” mode, or periodically check the potential availability of messages to be recovered, in a so-called “pull” mode. there is. A notification may be a contextual display within the framework of an augmented reality visualization.

According to another feature of the present invention, in the message retrieval phase, the message is visualized by each recipient in relation to an image of the material subject and/or its environment. Then, any type of augmented reality technology can be used for this purpose.

According to a feature of the present invention, in the recording phase, determining the single authenticator of the material subject is performed using a predetermined algorithm, and during the recovery phase, a mobile communication device is implemented, the mobile communication device comprising image acquisition means. and calculating means and configured to implement the same algorithm for determining the second single authenticator and the candidate single authenticator of the substance subject.

According to a feature of the present invention, in the recording phase, the single authenticator of the material subject is an authentication image, and during the recovery phase, a mobile communication device is implemented, comprising means for obtaining an image and means for calculating and authenticating It is configured to implement a predetermined algorithm for alignment or comparison of the image and the verification image.

According to a feature of the present invention, in the recording phase, the single authenticator of the material subject is an authentication image, and during the retrieval phase, a mobile communication device is implemented, the mobile communication device comprising image acquisition means and calculation means and having a local and transmit the verification image to the server system in a secure or non-secure manner without performing alignment or comparison calculations.

According to a feature of the invention, the sorting, single authenticator determination and comparison phases are performed partly in a mobile communication device comprising image obtaining means and calculating means and partly in at least one server system.

Of course, the various features and variations of the invention may be related to one another in various combinations, unless mutually exclusive.

It is clear that the present invention proposes in particular a messaging system enabling a sender (designated by an identifier) to send digital content to one or more recipients (designated by one or more identifiers), said content being subject to at least one material subject (each specified by at least one single authenticator). A block diagram of an example of such a messaging system is shown in FIG. 1 .

Thus, in order to transmit a message, the sender implements the creation of at least one single authenticator of the substance subject, a distinguishing and inherent feature of the substance subject, which serves as an anchoring for the content to be transmitted. In order to be able to access the message content, speaking of any current messaging system, the recipient must provide an identifier to the server, but also provide the server with a single authenticator of the same substance subject that plays a role in the creation of the message by the sender. It should be. A single authenticator of a material subject may be one or more image(s) of the material subject's authentication area, or any metric extracted from the image(s) that characterizes in part the microstructure of the material subject. . In the context of the present invention, the content of a message may be of any nature, such as, for example, data and/or applications or links to start a session, hypertext links, although any feature not listed here may be referred to generically or restrictively.

In the present invention, an "image" is firstly obtained from the stimulation of at least one area of a material subject (referred to as an authentication area) by a light ray, the acquisition chain of which includes an optical part and which is preferably not necessarily visible by the human visual system. means the obtained optical image. Illumination of the material subject can be employed for the optical behavior of the certified area of reflection and/or transmission. Ambient lighting may be used as appropriate. The word “image” should also be understood in a broad sense and not limited to the single meaning of an optical image apparently obtained from stimulation of an authentication area with light rays in particular. Thus, authentication and verification images may be acquired by any type of stimulus in the authentication area in conjunction with a suitable acquisition chain (shifted from analog to digital), and a stimulus of the same type or of the same characteristic may acquire the authentication and verification images. It should be understood that it is implemented for Among the possible types of stimulation or acquisition modes, in particular: ultrasound, X-ray, X-ray or laser tomography, X-ray radiation, magnetic resonance may be mentioned, although types not included in this list are also comprehensively or limitedly mentioned. It can be.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in the recording phase, the sender selects the digital content, the recipient and at least one material subject. This caller initiates the implementation of the following steps, using an electronic device connected to the computer network.

- at least determining the sender identifier, determining the recipient identifier and determining the single authenticator of the substance subject;

- to form relevant messages - to be processed in all existing communication infrastructures or according to all protocol types known or employed (email protocol, instant messaging protocol, messaging protocol (WAP, SMS, MMS,...), ...); -.

The related messages may then be processed by the chosen communications infrastructure and stored in at least a digital container (local or remote server system), so that they can be implemented (distributed).

Then, the recipient is directly or indirectly notified of the availability of the associated message from the server system or any other device, so that the message can approach the material message closer and implement the recovery part of the method object of the present invention, the message and initially receive an indication of the associated material subject (and/or authentication area of the material subject).

The recipient's identifier determination phase and the substance subject's candidate single authenticator (verification single authenticator) determination phase are then implemented. To enable access to the content of the associated message, the same authentication realm of the same material subject as originally implemented by the sender or material subject of the same content as implemented during message creation must be used. This step of determining the candidate single authenticator includes the following steps: obtaining at least one verification image (an image obtained from the authentication area of the candidate substance subject) / performing relative or absolute alignment of the authentication and verification images and determining a single authenticator of the candidate substance test subjects/if the alignment is not possible, image authentication of the substance objects is terminated with premature failure.

The authentication phase is then implemented either locally (at the recipient's device or a nearby device) or remotely (on at least one server system), or to some extent locally and to some extent remotely. This operation is performed on the one hand to perform a sequence of digital calculations and comparisons between the stored recipient identifier and the recipient candidate authenticator and, on the other hand, single authentication of the stored candidate substance subject and substance test during the step of writing the message. It is executed by one or more electronic devices provided with at least one processor and one memory, or even one or more means of communication, to perform the digital calculation and comparison sequence between them. This phase will require interaction with at least one server machine.

If the authentication phase is invalid (NO), the method ends by at least notifying the recipient of the distribution failure, possibly offering the recipient to start the repair phase again from the beginning.

If the authentication phase is valid (YES), the next phase is to distribute the relevant message so that the recipient has access to the digital content as desired by the sender.

In the present invention and according to the simplest embodiment, the sender identifier and the recipient identifier each consist of a pre-existing username and password, whereas a single authenticator of a material subject includes at least physical characteristics unique to the material subject. It is reduced to an image acquired by means of an electronic communication device with one sensor (possibly its own excitation source).

In the context of the present invention, a sender may be any entity (human or autonomous device or robot or communication object) indicated as being the sender of message content. This can be anonymous if not required.

In the context of the present invention, a recipient may be any entity (human or autonomous device or robot or communication object) indicated as a recipient of the contents of a message. Recipients can be unique, multiple, restricted i.e. reserved for predefined groups, but non-limited i.e. accessed by the need to implement a substance subject or the possibility of recalculating a single authenticator of a candidate substance subject. While is controlled, anyone can access it. A single authenticator of a material subject may be an image of an authentication area of the material subject or any metric extracted from the image that partially characterizes the microstructure of the material subject.

In the present invention, the material subject is preferably independent of the sender and receiver. The invention is based in part on the singular, non-reproducible and unpredictable nature of material subjects. According to the present invention, the material subject is not a living animal, preferably inert as opposed to living, or is dead, i.e. the material subject transforms spontaneously within the framework of a living organism growth or regeneration process. It doesn't work. The present invention uses or embodies the microstructure or structures of a material subject, understood as microstructure or tissue in any image obtained from said material subject. The material object can be a physical object (material, product, ...) or a natural scene (landscape, ...), the nature and complexity of which are compatible with the features required for implementation of the present invention.

In the present invention, a portion of a material subject can be understood by an authentication region, in which an extracted image of a material subject provides spatial information about the structure or microstructure (e.g., of course there are inhomogeneities) of the material subject. include Within the framework of the present invention, at a given viewing magnification, the word 'texture or microstructure' relates to what can be seen or observed on an image, whereas the word 'structure or microstructure' relates to a material subject matter It is about itself. Thus, at a given viewing magnification, the tissue or microstructure corresponds to an image of the structure or microstructure of the authentication region of the material subject.

An authentication realm is therefore a physical space on or within a material subject, which allows creation of a single authenticator from a material subject during the write phase, which allows messages to be reused, at least during the recovery phase. It should be. The authentication realm need not be physically marked in the present invention. The location of the authentication area of the material subject to be authenticated may be recorded. These records are not strictly necessary, but can facilitate the verification step. Accordingly, the material subject used for the implementation of the object of the method of the present invention without marking cannot be known or detected by persons other than the sender or recipient of the relevant message. For example, telemetry, location (GPS or otherwise), gyroscope (e.g. accelerometer(s) integrated into the mobile terminal) data may be stored during the recovery phase so that the data is in a condition as close as possible to that first used by the sender. Can be used to guide recipients.

Of course, material objects can also be implemented, and the reading area used therein can be located or even marked. Accordingly, according to another feature of the present invention, the location of the authentication area of the subject to be authenticated is marked on the subject to be authenticated. This marking may be evident in the presence of one or more marks representing the authentication area, or it may imply that the authentication area is in or near a characteristic area of the object under test, for example near a decorative pattern.

At least one authentication image (a first image obtained from an authentication area of a substance subject) is provided to the sender(s) so that the content of the message can be accessed only if the candidate substance subject is the substance subject that was used while forming the associated message. ) and at least one verification image (second image obtained from the authentication area) must be implemented during message formation by the recipient(s). Formation of the message can also take place during the so-called writing phase or the so-called authentication phase. Preferably, the authentication image of the material subject and/or material subject is in the possession or presence of the sender, which may also be qualified as an author or creator before the recipient is in the possession or presence of the material subject. In other words, the material subject is known to the sender before it is known to the receiver. Thus, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the sender prepares a message relating to a material subject that he would have selected without prior knowledge of the recipient, i.e., without prior identification of the recipient.

The present invention has the advantage of enabling distribution of message contents to recipients by performing a similarity analysis between a first image, referred to as an authentication image, and a second image, referred to as a verification image or candidate image, while a verification image or A condition of imaging the substance subject to obtain the second image is never the same as a condition satisfied when the sender takes the first image or the authentication image. Indeed, between the acquisition of the first and second images, the material subject may have deteriorated slightly, the lighting conditions or other stimuli may not be the same, the sensors used may generally be different (e.g., optical system and resolution) and relative positions of the sensors, excitation sources and material objects may also be different.

In order to cope with the difficulty caused by the difference in acquisition conditions of the first and second images, the present invention proposes, as a preferred embodiment, to proceed to aligning the two images or aligning one of the images with respect to the other. do. Alignment means the matching of images (mono or multisource), ie the identification of different properties that depend on a particular relationship. Such matching is based either directly or on at least one reference image, generally on the search for possible geometrical transformations that allow passage from one image to another. To this end, the main known method is a search for common (matched) geometric primitives between the two images to compute the transform or between local intensity features in the two images to compute the transform. It is a search for similarity (correlation or other) of The transformation investigated in the present invention may be linear (so-called rigid transformation, eg homography) or may be non-linear (deformable transformation). Thus, the method objectives of the present invention are applicable not only to solid material subjects, but also to fully or partially elastic material subjects, or even to material subjects having hybrid characteristics.

In the present invention, the alignment of the verification image (second image) and the authentication image (first image) is between image (s) and image (s), part (s) of image (s) and part (s) of image (s) ), or even between one set of singularities and their local features and another set of singularities and their local features, between couples (singularities, local descriptors) and couples (singularities). , local descriptors), or between any derived pieces of information that allow matching and, in some cases, the computation of geometric transformations. The couples mentioned in the previous example are considered the single authenticators of the material subject.

The alignment implemented is a prerequisite to the comparison itself of images or single authenticators associated with said images. To this end, many metrics can be considered without modification of the present invention. Computation of a signature extracted from the first and second images according to the same algorithm and successive computation of the distance between these metrics and use of an acceptance threshold, or a second one with an acceptance threshold, for example, in terms of the number of matching outliers. A direct comparison of the corresponding outliers in the first image and in the second image can be mentioned. These singularities may advantageously be invariant or nearly invariant to linear or affine transformations (rotations, homotheties, transformations and scale exponents).

Likewise, distance, reciprocal of distance or appropriate divergence can be used as an indicator of similarity, also for example Law filters or Local Binary Patterns (LBP) or signal level gradients (e.g. SURF, SIFT, KAZE, ORB, BRISK type, etc.) can be supported for matching characteristic points of interest detected and quantified by local descriptors between image tiles. For these latter processes, it may be appropriate, in particular, to implement a former filtering step to remove differences in local illumination and/or histogram equalization and thus reveal the interest of the microstructure/microstructure of the image in the present invention. there is.

Within the framework of the present invention, computational methods using artificial neural networks that implicitly sort and compute similarity weights, and extract and/or classify features may also be used. Thus, in an embodiment of the present invention, dense alignment based on a large number of points or regions of correspondence enables recognition of a material subject and thus also authentication.

A single authenticator of a material subject may be digital information derived from the singleness, unpredictability, or even non-reproducibility of the material subject, wherein any generation of candidate single authenticators from the same material subject exceeds a certain threshold. will be located at a lower distance, while ensuring that any generation of single authenticators emanating from another material subject will be located at a distance higher than this same threshold value, chosen to minimize the risk of collision as much as possible. (acceptance of falsehood for truth and rejection of truth for falsehood). After that, statistical comparisons with e.g. similarity metrics and acceptance thresholds are implemented.

A single authenticator of a material subject can be a set (multidimensional) whose boundaries are determined, thus minimizing the risk of collision (acceptance of false for true and rejection of true for false) domain) may be an element of this set in the sense of membership criteria and any candidate single authenticator arising from another material subject may not be an element of this set. The thus formed universe of single authenticators can be established a priori or changed retrospectively.

Within the framework of the present invention, it is contemplated that any material subject is subject to voluntary or involuntary changes over time, and that any acquired capture of an image of a material subject also introduces variability. Advantageously, the method according to the present invention is robust to partial changes of the subject to be authenticated and robust with respect to changes in the acquisition conditions of authentication and verification images. The object of the method of the present invention is to be robust to changes in the subject's material or small-amplitude acquisition conditions, and this small-amplitude concept is controlled by the selection of a similarity index and an acceptance threshold or membership criterion and boundary. However, the method according to the invention cannot be implemented in the case of too significant changes or variations in the scale of the authentication area or too different capture conditions for the first and second images.

The selection of the material subject itself is a determining factor in the robustness of the overall method. In certain applications, the use of material subjects that degrade/evolve more or less quickly over time to naturally limit the duration of availability of a message to the lifetime or recovery period of a single authenticator of a valid material subject in the present invention. things can be interesting Characterizing the degradation index of a material subject to estimate its age as a factor for dating that determines the "age" of a message may also be considered.

It should be noted that although the present invention does not specifically target a secure method of message transmission, it does provide a certain reliability and security of messages and distribution of messages due to their relevance to material subjects. To enhance the security of the method according to the invention, it is possible to implement any mechanism for protecting data and electronic equipment/devices, for example data encryption, electronic signatures, safety tokens. Likewise, security can be ensured by a “blockchain” type distributed and secure register system of all messaging transactions carried out from the start or first implementation of the messaging system according to the present invention. A secure element within the framework of this mechanism may be an exchanged message or embodied material subject(s) or a combination of their images or messages and associated material subject(s).

Additionally, the content of a message implemented in the present method by a sender may continue to evolve in its storage phase and up until distribution of the message to the recipient. Thus, the sender can determine the exact and decisive information that forms the content of the message concerned, but at least up to distribution of the message, can choose the evolution rules and the starting information to evolve (initial content). For example, all or part of the content of an RSS feed type is updated during storage (where the storage to the data server is dynamic); Alternatively, it is perfectly possible for content to depend wholly or partly on a release date (a date not known to the sender at the time of anchoring the message).

In a variant of the method according to the invention, the recipient is provided with the possibility of republishing a message completely or partially different from the related message and sending the message back to the original sender.

Similarly, notifications to the recipient(s) specify the message's unique identification number (e.g., consisting of a random value bound to an incremental value) that serves as an index back during the recovery phase and authentication phase, and in a fast 1:1 This can be done by enabling control.

According to a variant implementation, the sender may transmit (in an encrypted or non-encrypted manner or concurrently with notification) the indication regarding the material subject to the recipient by any channel, even if the relevance is low, via the server system. For example, when the related message is sent by e-mail, the mode of communication of the indication regarding the substance subject may be, for example, by SMS or MMS or by phone.

The present invention can be implemented in a suitable electronic device comprising at least one sensor (camera, CCD sensor, CMOS, ultrasound, etc.), a memory and a processor, or, in some cases, a stimulus source (light emitting or other). Among the electronic devices suitable for the implementation of the invention, mention may be made of computers, tablets, smartphones, augmented reality masks, augmented reality glasses.

It should be noted that a manufactured product (industrial or traditional), a work of art, an element or a natural scene can be selected as the material subject. For example, in the case of a perfume box, when purchasing at a store, the method may be implemented as a sender, and the perfume box may be sent to a recipient. After distribution, the recipient can be notified by the sender that he has possession of the material subject, so that the link is established, that he is waiting for a message in some way (possibly with the message's unique identification number) and then the method and the sender can receive the provided digital content.

It is also possible to implement the object of the method of the present invention by selecting an urban environment, a stone of a famous monument (Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the Colosseum in Rome, etc.) as the material test object.

Among conceivable applications for the present invention can be mentioned interaction and exchange between product manufacturers/distributors and consumers, a tracking game whose clues and/or instructions are distributed by means of the messaging system according to the present invention. Another possible application is the access or distribution of records or instructions for use of products for warranty purposes.

Of course, various other variations of the method or other embodiments of the present invention are contemplated within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (14)

As an electronic message transmission method:
- initially, by the sender, selecting at least one material test subject having at least one authentication area indicative of a microstructure observable at a given observation magnification, and then at least one first portion of said authentication area acquiring or embodying an image;
- recording, by the sender, the electronic message to be transmitted in a server system;
- recording in the server system at least one identifier of at least one recipient of the message, each identifier being associated with the message to be transmitted;
- notifying each recipient of the existence of a message;
- acquiring at least one second image of the authentication area of the material subject - the second image includes substantially equal levels of information related to the authentication area; Obtained such that the characteristics are substantially equivalent to the characteristics of the first image;
- aligning the first image with the second image, determining a first single authenticator of the substance subject from the first image and determining a second single authenticator of the substance subject from the second image;
- comparing the single authenticators;
- sending to the server system an identifier of at least one recipient associated with the second single authenticator;
- if the similarity index of the first single authenticator and the second single authenticator is greater than or equal to an acceptance threshold and the recipient identifier recorded in the server system and the transmitted recipient identifier match, the recipient identifier and the single authentication and forwarding the message related to the recipient to the recipient. As an electronic message transmission method:
- first, by the sender, selecting at least two material objects each having at least one authentication area indicative of a microstructure observable at a given observation magnification; obtaining or implementing at least one first image of the authentication area;
- recording said electronic message to be transmitted on a server system;
- determining a sorting criterion for sorting each first image;
- aligning each first image with respect to the alignment criterion, or not, determining a first single authenticator of each material subject from each first image, wherein the first single authenticator is the authentication area Includes at least one of an image of and an authenticator derived from the image of the authentication realm -,
- recording the first single authenticator of each substance subject in the server system;
-obtaining at least one second image of the authentication area of at least one candidate substance test subject; information, wherein a characteristic is substantially equal to a characteristic of the first image;
- aligning the second image with respect to the alignment criterion, or not aligning, and determining a candidate single authenticator of the candidate substance subject from the second image;
- sending to the server system an identifier of at least one recipient associated with the candidate single authenticator;
- compare the candidate single authenticator with the first single authenticators recorded in the server system, and, if a similarity index between the candidate single authenticator and the first single authenticator is equal to or greater than an acceptance threshold, the identifier is set to the candidate single authenticator; and forwarding the message to the recipient associated with an authenticator. According to claim 2,
and recording at least one identifier of the recipient associated with at least one single authenticator of the substance subject. According to claim 1 or 2,
In each authentication region image of the substance subject, determining singular points and descriptors of a single region related to each singular point, the descriptors being related to each corresponding singular point; and
and determining, from the authentication realm image, a single authenticator of the substance subject. According to claim 1 or 2,
At least one identifier of each recipient of the message to be transmitted is recorded in the server system, the recipient identifier is transmitted, and the message to be transmitted is delivered to the recipient by the server system only if authentication of the recipient succeeds. Characterized in that, the method. According to claim 1 or 2,
characterized in that it comprises a message writing phase which proceeds to at least the following steps:
- recording the content of the electronic message to be transmitted to the server system, the content being related to the message to be transmitted;
- recording in the server system at least one identifier of at least one recipient of the message, each identifier being associated with the message to be transmitted;
- recording in the server system at least one identifier of at least one sender of the message, each identifier being associated with the message to be transmitted;
- selecting at least one material test object having at least one authentication area indicative of a microstructure observable at a given viewing magnification;
- obtaining at least one first image of the authentication area by means of a device accessible to the sender;
- in the first image, determining singular points and descriptors of a single region related to each singular point - the descriptors are related to each corresponding singular point -,
- recording the singularities and their related descriptors,
- recording the single authenticator of the substance subject in the server system related to the message to be transmitted. According to claim 1 or 2,
characterized in that information related to the material subject for which the image of the authentication area is to be used to recover the message is transmitted to each recipient. According to claim 7,
The method of claim 1 , wherein the information related to the material subject includes at least one piece of information for geographically locating the material subject. According to claim 7,
characterized in that prior to said recovery, said material subject is distributed to each recipient. According to claim 7,
Upon said retrieval, said message is visualized by each recipient in relation to at least one of an image of said material subject and surroundings of said material subject. According to claim 1 or 2,
Determining the single authenticator of the substance subject is performed using a predetermined algorithm, and
A method, characterized in that a mobile communication device is provided, wherein the mobile communication device comprises means for obtaining an image and means for calculating and is configured to identically implement the above algorithm for determining a second single authenticator. According to claim 1 or 2,
characterized in that the recipient is notified of the availability of the message. According to claim 1 or 2,
that the single authenticator of the substance subject is an authenticated image; and
A mobile communication device is provided, the mobile communication device comprising image acquisition means and calculation means and configured to transmit an image obtained by the image acquisition means to the server system in a secure manner or in a non-secure manner. How to do it. According to claim 13,
Sorting the images, determining a single authenticator and comparing are performed partly in the mobile communication device comprising the image obtaining means and the calculating means and partly in the at least one server system. How to.

Images